S4 Episode 03: A Promise for Tomorrow
by Taismo-89
Summary: Trying to find a newly-rastreated Decepticon, the team returns to Earth. Meanwhile, Bumblebee at last discover the beauty from nature that Prowl admired so much. TFA and all its characters belong to Hasbro and Cartoon Network.


On Earth, at the top of Sumdac Tower, Isacc Sumdac opened up the space bridge to receive the Autobots.

"Salutations, Professor Sumdac," Optimus said once the team arrived. Sari rushed to hug her father.

"I missed you so much, dad," she said, burying her face into the white fabric of his lab coat.

"I missed you too, darling," Isaac smiled at her. Then, he saw two different colored optics staring at him.

"Wow… a real human… no offense, Sari," Starshine said, while she assured it was all fine. Star poked Isaac's head carefully, disturbing some of his black and white hair.

"A new friend of yours?" He chuckled at her innocence.

"Bumblebee's adopted sister. Long story," Sari assured, as Star stood up.

"Anyway, what brings you all back to Earth?" The professor asked.

"Well, two orbital cycles ago, there was a jailbreak in Cybertron, thanks to Starscream, that came back to life, and his clones. We captured the Seekers, but Starscream escaped along with Lugnut and Shockwave thorugh a space bridge," The leader explained. "We detected a Decepticon signal on your planet, still we don't know who of them it can be. Therefore we're spending some solar cycles here to find it and see if there was any damage caused. Besides, Bumblebee was just too excited to show Starshine the planet." He chuckled fondly after this part, knowing how excitable the yellow mech was.

"Why wouldn't I? I want her to like this place as much as we do!" Bee exclaimed. "Come on, Star, come on! I can't wait to show you our Earth Base!"

"You have an Earth Base? Wow..." Star followed her excited brother, eager to know more about it, her curiosity getting the best of her. Since her first "mission", her shyness diminished a bit.

"Well, the people from Detroit will sure be happy to see you once more," Isaac assured. "But… about the loss..."

"We all miss him too, professor. He did what it needed to be done for the good of all we protected. However, while some processed our grief a lot quicker… others are still carrying the scars..." Optimus sighed, and the rest of the team lowered their heads.

* * *

The team arrived pretty soon to their Earth Base, which had surprisingly remained undisturbed during their abscence. It looked exactly the same as when they left (which was no surprise since the base's location was kept secret).

"Primus… it looks like we haven't even left," Ratchet observed everything around.

"Oh, yes. The cleaning bots did their job well. Everyday, they come over and clean up, in case you did decide to return," Isaac assured. "The mayor even considered the idea of building a statue of you all in front of this place."

"Hm… I don't know. Whenever we roll out, we may accidentally bump into it," Optimus thought aloud. He had a point.

"I missed my comfy spot." Bulkhead settled himself around. "Wonder what's good on TV. I have a lot of catching up to do."

"This place is amazing." Starshine commneted. "So it all started here?"

"Actually in the ship that crashed on Lake Erie 50 human years ago, but I got to agree the factory was a pretty comfortable base." Optimus commneted. Bumblebee then pulled Star by the hand to the hallway.

"And by the hallway, there are many rooms. There's my room, maybe we can put your berth there, and you're gonna love it, and Prime's room's right there, Ratchet's room's there..." He pointed out where each room was, until she let go of his hand, seeing a door opening.

The room they entered was filled of Japanese-related decorations, and a huge tree growing on it. It was surprising to her, and familiar to him.

"Oh, this… was Prowl's room," Bumblebee commented.

"Your Cyber-Ninja friend, right?" She asked, receiving a nod of approval.

"Prime once asked if he wanted to move to a different room, but Prowl for some reason liked it here," Bee commented.

"Well, I guess I can see why," Star observed the tree in bliss. "This… nature the Earth has... it's beautiful. Not like anything I've seen on Cybertron..." Bumblebee stared at the tree, then a memory blinked on his mind.

 _"You know, you can have another room, one with a roof," Optimus suggested Prowl._

 _"I like this room," Prowl assured, as he admired the tree. "All this organic life, this nature, it refuses to be contained… such a force of will." A curious Bumblebee spied on their chat. "But everyone here is blind to it. They all rush to see everything, but never sit still long enough to experience what is around them. Just this morning, I observed one organic creature stalk another with such grace, such stillness." He carefully approached a small bird, until Bee cut him off._

 _"Anybody else smell fried circuitry around here? Get it - fried circuitry? A-ha ha! As in yours!" He teased the Cyber-Ninja with ignorance. "Hello? Anybot home?" Prowl growled in annoyance and jumped up to the tree branches. "What? What I say?"_

Bee remained there, with his optics glowing of shock. He missed Prowl, but never really THOUGHT of how ignorant he was whle he was still with them.

"Bee?" Star's voice snapped him out. "Are you okay?"

"Uh? Oh, sure, sure, sis. I'm fine." The yellow Bot quickly recomposed himself. "I was just… thinking a bit."

"... if you say so..." Star felt something was wrong. Then, she looked back at the tree, seeing how huge it was. "Hm… I wonder if it's higher than my favorite spot on the cybertronian frontier..." The girl bot climbed up the tree, curious. As he was left alone, Bee sighed and left the room.

* * *

Meanwhile, in an abandoned mine on the woods, a bot worked on something.

"As if being leaded by Starscream isn't bad enough, WE gotta handle by ourselves plans to take down the Autobots while he stays at this planet's moon doing nothing!" He muttered. "Well, wherever Lugnut is now, I don't care. If this planet can help me in something… might as well be destroying who stands in my way..." His single red optic glowed. Then, a thunder was heard.

It started to rain hard on the city. The Autobots managed to rastreate the signal once more.

"The coordinates of the tracking device point to various directions. This Decepti-creep must know he's being followed. No way he'll give up his location easily, it's going to be a lot of work," Ratchet complained.

"Well, it won't stop raining until tomorrow, so we might as well rest for today," Optimus decided.

"What is happening out there, Sari? Your "ocean" is falling from the sky?" Star wondered, watching the rain from the door.

"It's just rain," Sari chuckled. Then, she saw the confused look on Star's face, indicating she needed more clarification. "Let me explain: the sun's light makes the water turn into clouds, then when they get heavy, it rains. It's something that happens sometimes here on Earth. Plus, it helps organic life flourish."

"Oh..." Star nodded, understanding. Then, she approached the factory's opened door, extending her hand out to the rain. As a raindrop fell on her finger, she rubbed her hand. That felt… strange, yet… interesting.

As she slowly allowed herself to walk out on the rain, she felt the water pouring on her parts. It was… a very good feeling. Then, she walked a bit and kicked a bunch of water on a puddle. She chuckled as the water spread around. Then, she started running around in the rain like a playful child, making Sari chuckle.

"What is she doing out there?" Bumblebee, who was hearing music on his media player when he came across seeing his sister outside, and removed his earphones.

"Having a blast, apparently."

"Sari, Bumblebee! You gotta come here! It's so much fun!" Star yelled excitedly to them, with a smile.

"Uh, no thanks. I get a cold really easily," Sari kindly refused.

"What's a cold?"

"Don't ask," Bee assured. Then, he looked at his sister. He wanted her to have fun… so, it was better to go with the flow. "Okay, I'll do it." As he answered, Star pulled him out of the factory and into the rain.

Bumblebee at first felt surprised about the sudden pull, but then he observed the rain falling. His observation was interrupted by a water splash caused by Star. She chuckled as she saw Bee's reaction.

"Ha-ha. Very funny," he smirked at her, planning to splash her too. The two of them remained on that game of jumping on puddles and water spreading, laughing all the way and having fun. Optimus approached Sari, as she observed everything.

"She's so full of life and curiosity." The team leader commneted. "It's surprising how much advance she had since reactivation."

"You know, I think this time on Earth will be good not only for Star… but to Bumblebee as well." The girl commented. Optimus looked at the young Bots playing. After a while of playing in the rain, the two of them rushed back inside, chuckling.

"That was amazing. We really should do this more often," The girl bot pointed out, carrying something on her hands.

"Yeah, it was fun," Bee agreed, as he picked up a towel Sari brought.

"What are you holding there?" Optimus asked.

"I felt a life signal inside this small package." Star showed what she carried out of the rain. "The branch that was holding it broke in two."

"It's a chrysalis," Sari touched the cocoon and analyzed it. "And something amazing will come out of it." The technorganic held it carefully and placed it on a plant nearby.

"What is it?" Bee and Star asked.

"I'm not telling..." Sari teased, leaving the two bots frustrated. "It's a surprise. You'll like it." Optimus looked at the two bots staring at the plant.

* * *

The next day, after the rain ceased, the Autobots were ready to start investigating.

"Okay, we're forming teams to investigate different areas. If anything suspicious is found, one must contact the others."

"Okay, boss. I'm ready," Bumblebee assured. Then, Optimus placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Actually, Bumblebee... I have another mission for you." Both of them looked at Starshine, who was staring at a puddle left by the rain. "Starshine seems really impressed with the planet… and you told me you wanted her to like this place as much as we did." Bumblebee nodded in understanding. "Therefore, I'm designing you to teach her about Earth. Explain everything she wants to know, and help her in her exploring."

The yellow bot stared at Star. She really did seemed to be liking that place… just as he wanted.

"Okay, boss. I'm on it." Saying that, Bumblebee rushed to Star's side, as the team drived away. "So, sis, I'm all yours now. What you wanna do?"

"Um… I don't know..." Star thought. "Are there other interesting places to see on Earth?" Then, Bee had an idea.

"Did you know there are other bots here besides us?" Bee told her.

"Really?" Star got immediatly interested, and followed her big brother as he switched to vehicle mode.

* * *

For the rest of the day, as the team searched up and down for the Decepticon, Bumblebee managed to show Star all he loved from Earth: the technology, all the attention caught by the flying cameras, and of course, the videogames.

She, on the other hand, had her interest on the planet's nature catching his attention, from small things as flowers and birds to bigger things as trees and the beach. The need for silence to appreciate was hard for a Bot like Bee, but it was worth it.

Optimus and Ratchet verified the uptown area, Bulkhead saw how things were going downtown, and Sari checked on Blackwater Prison, where she found out Meltdown was still disappeared, and the police was still searching for him. No success, however, in finding who they were searching for.

About meeting other bots, Star soon made friends with Wreck-Gar seeing him collecting garbage, and nearly collecting a cat, and met one of the Constructicons and the Dinobots on the remains of their island. It simply was impressive to Bumblebee how easily she could make friends.

As the team's search was coming to a close, Bumblebee and Star were on the beach. As they walked out the ocean, after a sucessful dive, they sat for a bit to rest, laughing at how much fun they had.

"Wow..." Bee chuckled. "I gotta admit, I never had that much fun when I was here before."

"I'm loving this place," Star assured. "All of it. Especially this amazing, beautiful nature." She took a deep breath with a smile. Then, she frowned for a moment. "Too bad those that do live her don't stop often enough to watch it..." Bee fell silent once more, remembeirng about Prowl.

 _"It's as though… humans are forever in war in nature," Prowl commented, upset. "Beauty literally falls from the sky and they immediatly rushed to spoil it with their machines. They won't rest till all of nature's beauty is...Have you even heard a word I said?" He turned to Bee and Sari, who were too busy playing videogames._

 _"Huh. Yes, yes. Jump! Jump!" Sari commented, as she played._

His eyes glowed again. How could he…

"Bee, look!" Then, something on the air called Star's attention. She pointed out to a moving silhouette in the sky. "That looks like a … earth vehicle."

"Flying?" Bee was surprised. "It that's not suspect, I don't know what it is." Then, they saw the silhouette flying to the city's surroudings, on the woods.

* * *

"I warned the team to keep alert, in case we need them," Sari soon reached the siblings' location, as they were driving to the location of the suspect silhouette.

"So we'll check first that area?" Star wondered.

"Yeah probably so," Sari pointed out. "Hey… by the time you spent together, have Bee told you about when me, him and Prowl got into the woods and were attacked by..."

"Space barnacles? Yeah, he did. He told me a lot of the adventures you lived here on Earth," Star commented. "And judging by how he told me, looks like he and Prowl had a very… hard relationship."

"Well, they weren't exactly best friends, but… deep within, Bee respected him. Even if he didn't show it much often." Then, Sari looked at Bumblebee. He haven't spoke a word out of their chat. "He's very quiet. That's unusual."

As they arrived at their location, Bee changed to Autobot mode, with a shocked expression. That place looked more devastated than what the space barnacles had caused, with trees destroyed everywhere, and many critters running for their lives. Someone, or rather yet, something has done this.

"Oh my gosh… what happened here?" Sari wondered, her helmet vanishing. Bumblebee was paralyzed, something also really unusual. "Bumblebee?"

"I'm… I'm okay..." Bee's voice cracked.

"Bee, you're not okay. Stop hiding your pain from me!" Star had enough of staying quiet. "What is wrong with you?" The yellow Autobot's optics opened, glowing as another memory came.

 _"We owe you a tremendous debt of gratitude."_

 _"And you owe me a new media player! Or did you think I forgot?" Bumblebee pointed out. Prowl grunted._

 _"Have you learned nothing about your time in the woods?"_

 _"Yeah, I learned we should pave it over as soon as we get the chance."_

 _"Surely you don't blame ALL of nature for a few space barnacles..."_

 _"You don't see my game player turning everyone into zombies, do you?"_

 _"Actually..."_

Bumblebee looked away, trying not to leak. However, it didn't too him long to knelt down. He shivered, trying to contain his sadness.

"It's… gone… all HE liked more about the planet… is gone..." He said, lamenting. "What… what would he think of me now?" Now the girls were sure of what was happening.

"Bumblebee… we do understand, but it's not good to keep your feelings locked for that long, remember?" Sari spoke up. "We are still upset about Prowl leaving us, but we're going through together. You don't have to suffer by yourself."

"There, there..." The girl Bot calmed down her brother, pulling his face close to her chest. "Calm down… everything will be fine..." Then, she thought for an instant. "But why haven't you told me anything?"

"You were having so much fun… and was really liking the planet as much as we did… I didn't wanted to bother you…" Bee admitted.

"But it won't be fun if you're not okay." Star cupped her brother's face. "I'm your sister, Bumblebee. You can tell me when something's bothering you, like I told you when things bothered me." Bee looked at them both.

"You can trust these faces, can't you?" Sari smirked at him. Bee held Star's comforting hand around his face and closed his optics with a calm smile.

"T-Thanks…"

"Why, by Primus..." A familar voice called their attention. "I should have guessed I recognize these voices… surely, you recognize your old pal, don't you, Bumblebee?"

Bumblebee's hands instinctively morphed into his Stingers, ready to fight. The trio turned around to see an enemy in common.

"Shockwave," Bee growled. Star stepped to his side, a little nervous of the prescene of the new Decepticon.

"So you really came back to Earth. Fatal mistake, if you ask me." He called for his "army": homunculus creatures, made of rudimentary material and scrapped metal. "The raw material of this weak planet had to be worth of something. It took me a long time to gather enough for my newest army, considering how poor this planet is."

"How can you view a place like this as weak, Shockwave?" Star pointed out. "It's a beautiful planet, capable of so much!"

"It admire me you Autobots had so much care for this weak, despicable planet. Especially your Cyber-Ninja friend," Shockwave chuckled. "Sacrificing his own spark for the sake of simpistic life forms..." He laughed a bit more. "It's hilaroius of how much of a fool he was! Your friend wasted his life by giving it up for pathetic helpless organics on this wasteland, oh how noble of him," he cruelly jeered in a mocking tone.

"Stop laughing at him!" Bee threatened. "I won't admit you laugh at him! He had more of a spark than you had!"

"Oh, I offended you, little bot? Besides being the gullible bot you are, you're stupid enough to face me alone?"

Bumblebee growled of fury, and rushed forward to attack Shockwave, but the cyclops Decepticon remained at place, as one of his homunculus stopped Bumblebee and shoved him away. The girls watched as Bumblebee was thrown away.

"Bee!" Star gasped. Bumblebee struggled to stand up. He looked up, with an angry expression, at Shockwave. He wanted so hard to punch him on his only optic. As he advanced to him again, he was attacked once more by the homunculus, that immobilized his Stinger and punched him out.

"Some things don't change..." Sari commneted, seeing Bee remained as implusive as always.

"Sari, call the team. Maybe in the sky, they can't attack you." She called for her Stingers. Sari flew away, calling out from the sky, hoping she wouldn't be attacked there.

"Everyone, it's Shockwave! I repeat, Shockwave's here, and we're being attacked!" She warned through her communicator, before she was hit by something.

"We know where to go, team. Transform and roll out!" Optimus decided, as the team received the message.

Shockwave laughed at Bee's failed trying to hit him. Star rushed to help Sari standing up.

"Maybe we won't have to wait for the team." she pointed out, as Sari removed her broken jetpack, destroyed by Shockwave's cannon. "Don't attack yet. I have noticed something we can all use at our favor." She warned Bumblebee through audio.

Shockwave, that couldn't hear their audio chat, just saw the small Bot standing.

"I'm surprised, Bumblebee. Either you are very brave to continue standing, or very dumb to keep trying. Are you sure giving up is not an option?"

"Never. I won't give up like the coward you are." He mocked, with a cocky smile. Then, he rushed toward Shockwave, as the Decepticon stayed in place.

Star then attacked the Homunculus, as his attention was on Bee. The raw material warrior hit the Decepticon, knocking him down.

"Ugh… how?" He stood up, rubbing his helm.

"You may had programmed them to attack any unusual guests around you or this area, but it looks like they can't defend themselves." Sari commneted, her helmet closing up and her hammer in hands.

"And about facing you alone… that's an advantage of being an Autobot: I'm NEVER alone!" Bumblebee pointed out. The three of them split up, ready to fight.

Each of them took turns in simulating an attack against Shockwave, in some cases defending from his cannon, while the others destroyed the inattentive homunculus. The one-eyed betrayer soon was defenseless.

"Looks like the tables have turned, huh?'" Sari smirked. Shockwave narrowed his optic, and shoot again with his cannon. Star stepped in front, protecting her friend with her force field. Bee took the chance to punch him hard in the helm, breaking one of his "antlers".

"Efficient even with him." Star thought. "Who would've guessed?" As the Decepticon struggled to stand up, he saw Bumblebee aiming his Stingers at him.

"One advice, Shockwave… NEVER come back to Earth," He growled, with an furious stare.

"This day may be yours, but you haven't smite the glory of the Decepticons!" Shockwave sweared, as he left, stumbling at his flight. At that moment, the team arrived at their location, as Star helped Bee standing up.

"Guess we missed the party," Bulkhead commented, as they saw Shockwave's silhouette at the distance.

"I'm sorry, Optimus," Star commented. "We tried holding him back the maximum we could, but..."

"It's okay, Starshine." Optimus picked up Shockwave's horn. "Next time we see him, we'll get the rest." Star smiled to him.

"Well, after that last hit, I'm sure he won't be returning to Earth so early." Sari's helmet disappeared, revealing her face. "I say this mission was a success."

"Success?" Bee muttered. "No, i-it's not right!" He scolded out loud. "Look at the destruction Shockwave caused! We failed… I failed in protecting what… what HE most liked about the planet..." He started to shiver as he calmed down. "What… what he would think of me?" He repeated.

Sari whispered on Optimus's audio what was going on and as he stepped forward, she told the others. Starshine stepped forward, and embraced Bee.

"Well… I think you're fascinating," she said. Bee shivered for a bit with a shocked stare, and small leaking came from his optics.

"T-Thanks..." He muttered, as the team stared at him.

 _Bee was on his room, struggling to not suffer. He still couldn't believe the events that happened: Sari was a Bot like him, they had no way to contact Cybertron... but even more than that, he couldn't believe the biggest mistake he made… sending an innocent Bot to prison._

 _"Bumblebee?" He heard Prowl's voice outside. "Are you here?"_

 _"Leave me alone!" He said. "I don't wanna talk!" Prowl sighed, then stared at the closed door._

 _"Look, all of the events weren't easy for any of us. But hiding in your room will not help." The ninja bot placed a hand on the wall._

 _"I'm not coming out. You'll find a way without me!" The yellow Bot tried to not break down._

 _"Just listen... I know how it feels to make a huge mistake… and that you think you won't make it thorugh this… but trust me, you will. I- we can help you… if you just let us." Prowl started walking away, until he heard the door opening. Bee walked out of his room, with his optics closed._

 _"Why? Why would YOU want to help me?" He muttered. Prowl smiled shortly at him, and lift up the bot's face._

 _"Don't tell the team I said this… but I think you're fascinating." This comment made Bee give him a short smile, and leak a bit._

 _"Thanks..."_

* * *

Later on that day, as the sun started to set, the team finished bringing up new trees to be planted where the battle happened.

"That's the last one," Sari counted. "These trees will grow big and strong soon, if everyone helps taking care of them."

"The mayor agreed in making this spot a place to remember Prowl's deeds, and his appreciation for nature," Isaac commented. "He'll place an holographic statue of him somewhere here. We'll have to discuss the best place later."

Bumblebee helped in planting the trees, until Star called his attention. The chrysalis on the plant they were keeping with them was moving. The two young bots didn't even moved, watching a butterfly sprouting out of there.

"Wow…" Maybe for the rarest occasions, Bee was speechless. He watched as the butterfly landed on his helmet then flew away. "That was… beautiful."

"I told you it would be cool," Sari commented, as she watch both bots surprised, staring at the horizon.

"Well, we better get back to Cybertron, team. I believe the population can deal with this place for itself now," Optimus decided. As the team started to leave to Sumdac Tower, Bumblebee looked at the sunset again and at the reforested place.

"You know… I wouldn't mind coming back here to try camping again," he decided.

"What's camping?" Star asked.

"We'll show you next time we're here. As long, of course, there's no space barnacles," Sari commented. Bee chuckled, and the three followed the team.

As the trio walked away from the new patch of reforested trees, the newly hatched butterfly fluttered under the warm colors of the sky in the sunset. It had places to go and so much to discover before its time was up. Fluttering towards the direction of the setting sun, the butterfly carried on its destination.


End file.
